Unit 2: Software Development Life-Cycle Models
The software development life-cycle (SDLC) is the process of planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system. There are different approaches to breaking down the work when developing software systems. Conceptually, each model provides specific guidance to the sequencing and repeating life-cycle activities to deliver high-quality software systems.
As you review this unit, try to see the similarities in these categories of life-cycle models. This will help you grasp the basic concepts of SDLC. This unit connects strongly with Unit 9: Project Management, since choosing and managing a software life-cycle process is a central component of project management.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- summarize the software development life-cycle (SDLC);
- compare categories of life-cycle models, such as waterfall, incremental, and iterative models;
- describe the differences between software development phases, activities, and deliverables;
- list different roles that professionals such as system analysts, developers, and project managers play in software development processes; and
- explain the major methodologies and processes in software engineering, such as Agile, Lean, Spiral, and Unified.